Three Reasons to Prioritize Sunday Evening Worship
By Pastor Josh Wamble
It seems like families these days are busier than they have ever been before. With so many activities and teams and groups for kids to be a part of, not to mention schoolwork, it is not uncommon for families to only have one or two nights a week at home with no responsibilities—some weeks there may be no free nights. For this reason and others, many churches these days have discontinued their Sunday evening service.
At FBCF, we have had several conversations over the years about what to do on Sunday evenings. We value family time and rest for individuals. We take several Sunday evenings off during the year including each Sunday in July. But, we have also decided to continue with a Sunday evening service for several reasons. We have people who are not able to attend on Sunday mornings because of work or for other reasons, and the Sunday evening service allows them to participate in worship and hear the word preached. We have several men in our church who are able to preach, and the Sunday evening service provides them opportunities to do what God has called them to do. Having a Sunday evening service also allows for our students to meet together another time during the week to receive teaching, mentoring, and fellowship.
As busy as you and your family are and as little time our families have these days, I want to ask you to consider prioritizing Sunday evening worship anyway. There are at least three reasons that I would like you to consider.
1. To Receive a Blessing. Sunday evening worship is another time during the week for you to hear the Bible preached and applied to your life. John 17 is an extended prayer that Jesus prays for his disciples and for those who will believe their message—us. In verse 17, he says, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” God’s plan for making His followers like Jesus is by using the reading and reflecting on and preaching of his word. The more opportunities you give yourself for hearing the word preached, the more the Holy Spirit will use it in your life. The Sunday evening service is another opportunity each week to hear the word preached. I hope that you will prioritize that.
Our evening service is structured a little differently than our Sunday morning service. Preaching the Bible is the main thing that we do on Sunday evenings, and it takes up the most time, but we do other things as well. Each week, we sing together, we take some time to openly encourage each other, and we spend an extended time sharing concerns and worries that we have and praying for one another. I hope that you will prioritize these things as well.
2. To Extend a Blessing. Another reason for prioritizing the Sunday evening service is because it provides another chance for the kids in our church to interact with the Bible and with other believers. While the adults are worshipping together in the sanctuary, there are groups and classes for children to take part in. The middle school and high school students spend the hour with seasoned mature believers studying the Bible together. This is an informal time where the boys and girls are split up and spend time with mentors. Students in younger grades also have a time of Bible study, fellowship, and fun with other kids and adult leaders.
Years ago, we had a home-made poster hanging in the youth room. It simply had a fraction written on it—1/168. This was a reminder that there are 168 hours in the week. If students attended the youth group meeting every week, that would be only 1 hour that they were being discipled in the things of Christ. 167 hours out of each week they are being discipled by the ways of the world. This poster was a reminder for students to be praying and reading the Bible on their own throughout the week and not only relying on the weekly meeting. The Sunday evening service time is another hour each week for the children of our church to hear the word and being discipled by older believers. I hope that you will prioritize this time for the children of the church as well.
3. To Give a Blessing. A third reason for you to prioritize the Sunday evening service is because it is a chance for you to bless other people. The way that the Sunday evening service is structured, gives you several opportunities to bless your brothers and sisters in Christ. Each week, there is a chance for you to share with other church members how the Lord has been encouraging you, which is also an encouragement to them. There is an opportunity for you to share with other church members what impact the Sunday morning sermon had on you. There is also a chance for you to bear other believers’ burdens by praying for them and committing to pray for them throughout the week. You can also share the things that are weighing on you giving them the chance to bear your burdens. I hope that you will prioritize these things.
There is also a unique way for you to encourage and bless specific church members. As mentioned above, there is a group of men who are called to preach who do not have regular opportunities for doing so. You attending on Sunday evenings gives them that chance. It is a blessing for you to hear different people preach, but it is especially a blessing to them to have someone to preach to! I hope that you will prioritize blessing your brothers in Christ in this way.
I don’t want you to think of the Sunday evening service as something that you must participate in. I don’t want it to be a burden to you or your family or for you to feel guilty about not attending. But, I do hope that you will take some time to make a thoughtful decision. I hope that you will not automatically make your decision based on what is easiest. I hope that you will think through and decide what is best—best for you, best for your family, and best for your brothers and sisters in Christ.
